Eddie Vedder

Vedder was married to Beth Liebling, the bassist of Hovercraft, from 1994 until their divorce in 2000. He married Jill McCormick in 2010, and they have two daughters, including Olivia Vedder.

Vedder and McCormick co-founded the EB Research Partnership in 2014, a nonprofit organization dedicated to finding treatments for epidermolysis bullosa. His daughter Olivia made her vocal debut on the Flag Day soundtrack, singing "My Father's Daughter," which Vedder co-wrote with Glen Hansard.

Born Edward Louis Severson III, Vedder spent part of his childhood in Evanston, Illinois, before moving with his family to San Diego County, California. He received a guitar from his mother on his 12th birthday and found comfort in music and surfing. After dropping out of high school, he earned a GED at Oakton Community College while working various jobs.

Vedder played in several San Diego bands before joining Bad Radio in 1988. He worked as a hotel security guard and gas station attendant while developing his sound, and became known locally as both a surfer and a singer.

In 1990, Jack Irons gave Vedder a demo tape from musicians in Seattle seeking a singer. Vedder wrote lyrics for the songs that became Pearl Jam's "Alive," "Once," and "Footsteps," then recorded vocals and sent the tape back to Seattle. Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament invited him to audition for their new band, and he soon joined Mike McCready and drummer Dave Krusen in the group that became Pearl Jam.

Vedder also joined Temple of the Dog, a project founded by Chris Cornell as a tribute to Mother Love Bone singer Andrew Wood. Vedder and Cornell shared vocals on "Hunger Strike," which became the project's breakout single and Vedder's first featured vocal on a record.

Pearl Jam's debut album, Ten, was released in 1991 and produced major songs including "Alive," "Even Flow," "Black," and "Jeremy." The album became one of the best-selling records of the 1990s, while its follow-up, Vs., set a record at the time for the most copies of an album sold in one week.

Pearl Jam followed Ten and Vs. with Vitalogy in 1994. Vedder took a larger role on rhythm guitar and contributed backing vocals and some drumming, while the album addressed the pressures of fame. Its single "Spin the Black Circle" won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 1996.

The band continued to change direction with No Code in 1996 and Yield in 1998, followed by Binaural, Riot Act, Pearl Jam, Backspacer, Lightning Bolt, Gigaton, and Dark Matter. Pearl Jam also became known for limiting music-video promotion and challenging Ticketmaster's service fees and exclusive arena contracts. Vedder uses the pseudonym Jerome Turner for non-musical contributions such as design and artwork on Pearl Jam records.

Vedder created the soundtrack for the 2007 film Into the Wild, which became his first solo album. The folk-influenced record included covers of "Hard Sun" and "Society," as well as the original song "Guaranteed." Vedder won a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for "Guaranteed" and supported the album with solo tours in 2008 and 2009.

His second solo album, Ukulele Songs, was released in 2011 alongside the live DVD Water on the Road. His third studio album, Earthling, followed in 2022, with a backing band called the Earthlings that included Glen Hansard, Josh Klinghoffer, Chad Smith, Chris Chaney, and Andrew Watt.

Vedder has contributed music to films and soundtracks including Dead Man Walking, I Am Sam, Big Fish, Body of War, Reign Over Me, Eat Pray Love, and Flag Day. He also made appearances as himself or as a performer in productions including Singles, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Portlandia, and Twin Peaks.

Vedder has used his public platform to support abortion rights, environmental conservation, gun control, and the release of the West Memphis Three. He and Pearl Jam performed at Rock for Choice, supported the Surfrider Foundation, and took part in benefit events connected with the West Memphis Three and anti-gun-violence campaigns. In 2006, Vedder and Pearl Jam created the Vitalogy Foundation to support community health, environmental, educational, and social-change programs.

Vedder's baritone vocals and confessional lyrics have become central to Pearl Jam's sound. His musical influences include the Who, the Beatles, the Ramones, the Doors, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Fugazi, and the Clash. Rolling Stone readers ranked him seventh on a list of the best lead singers of all time, and he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Pearl Jam in 2017.